


Break The Ice

by hollyblue2



Series: Destiel Christmas Mini Bang 2015 [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dean to the Rescue, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt!Cas, Ice, M/M, Near Drowning, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 13:23:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5376821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyblue2/pseuds/hollyblue2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Cas go down to the lake to take photographs and enjoy the snow, they weren’t counting on Cas falling through the ice…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Break The Ice

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt was Snow for this one :)
> 
> There is art by the amazing @baethazar on Tumblr (which will be linked when I have the link) and beta'd by @myangelshunter (who is an absolute darling)

It hadn’t been this cold in Illinois for a while but Castiel still wanted to go out and walk in the snow, maybe take a wander down to the lake with his camera and take some photographs. He shucked on his trenchcoat and wrapped his favourite navy blue scarf around his neck that his grandmother knitted him when he was younger. He plucked his bobble hat off the shelf too and dumped it on his head, bits of wild hair already getting in his eyes.

“I shouldn’t be long!” He called back into the house, one of his brothers would hear him. Their parents had been out of town for the last week leaving them with enough food for the four of them. In a way, Castiel had been glad. He could finish his photography project without his father breathing down his neck about how it wasn’t a real qualification and a waste of time.

“Bye, Cas!” One shouted back, it sounded like Gabriel, just as he shut the door.

Castiel trudged down the path towards his best friend’s house which was a block away, kicking the loose, fluffy snow with his feet and watching the fresh snow fall from the ominously grey sky. It was beautifully soft, and Castiel liked it much better than rain; rain was hard and unforgiving, but snow, snow was calming and refreshing, just what he needed during his Christmas break.

He knocked loudly on Dean’s house as he knew their doorbell was broken – or never worked, he couldn’t remember what Dean had told him – and it wasn’t long before he heard loud footsteps thumping towards the door. It swung open with force and Castiel smiled when he saw Dean.

“Hello.” Castiel greeted stuffing his gloved hands into the pockets of his trenchcoat.

“Hey, Cas.” Dean wasn’t ready at all. he stood there in the doorway a pair of jeans and an old band shirt so, when he noticed Castiel was dressed for the snow, Dean invited him in for a moment so he could get his jacket and shoes on.

Soon they were out the house and halfway to the lake. Castiel walked close to Dean, like he always did, bumping shoulders with him often and Dean would playfully push him away laughing. Castiel only moved away to take some pictures of the trees which had snow dropping off them and collecting on their brown leaves before returning to Dean’s side. He managed to goad Dean into taking a couple of selfies too, even though it was awkward with the big camera, so they’d probably have half their faces missing.

There was one particular tree that Castiel liked, a willow tree that was on the edge of the park. He snapped photo after photo, changing settings on his SLR camera, the one that Dean and Sam had bought him for his birthday a couple of months ago.

He took photos from afar at first, Dean hopping from foot to foot in the cold as his jacket was nowhere near as warm as Castiel’s, and then he moved closer and took macro photographs of the leaves and branches that were close to the floor. Dean smiled as he watched Castiel work away, his tongue poking out a little in concentration.

“Dean?” Castiel asked, tilting his gaze towards him.

“Yep.” Dean replied. He turned to face his friend.

“Can I take photographs of you under the tree?” He readied himself for puppy eyes, something Sam had told him would win Dean over in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, um,” Dean wasn’t entirely sure about the prospect of being a model for Castiel.

“Please? It’s for the Christmas project that Miss Jacobs set us for the holidays. She wanted us to convey the meaning of friends and family during the holiday period through media and since my speciality is photography...” He trailed off, hoping for a positive from Dean.

“Fine,” Deantold him and walked towards the tree. “Here?”

“Yeah, now just step behind the branches a little and hold them apart with your hands.” Castiel directed. He looked through the lens to check the perspectives and lighting. “Look down a little, don’t look at me.”

“I don’t wanna look at your ugly mug anyway!” He teased, grinning and looking down.

Castiel took several photographs before calling Dean back to him so that they could carry on walking down to the lake.

“First one to the lake gets the last slice of pie!” Dean called, running off down the slight slope that lead to the frozen over water’s edge.

“That’s not fair!” Castiel yelled after him, struggling to return the cap to the front of the lens and then keeping a tight hold of the camera as he raced after him. The snow and icy grass was crunching underfoot and he nearly slipped.

Dean had stopped at the edge of the lake and watched as Castiel flailed and slipped as he raced towards him, camera tight in his grip. Dean held his hands out in front of him to make sure that Castiel stopped and didn’t end up slipping even more on the frozen over lake.

“Cas! Stop!” Dean yelled as he laughed. If only he had Castiel’s camera right now. Castiel ran at full force into Dean toppling them both over onto the snowy floor.

“Sorry!” Castiel jumped up from landing on top of his friend, brushing off the snow from his jacket and trousers before doing a once over check on his camera. Thankfully it seemed to have survived the impact.

“Hey! Help a guy up, I’m more important that your camera.” Dean protested, holding his hand out for Castiel to help him.

Castiel took Dean’s arm in a good grip and pulled him to his feet for which Dean thanked him and dusted himself off and shivered.

“You should have brought a better coat. Or at least a scarf and hat.” Castielcriticised.

“I’m not cold.” Dean retorted, even though it was blatantly obvious that he was cold with his pale skin and goose bumps. The eighteen year old simply shook his head before snapping a few photographs of a snow covered, grumpy Dean and wandering off round the lake.

“We should go ice skating, without the ice skates.” Dean suggested, tapping his foot to the edge of the lake and finding it solid.

“Are you sure?”

 “Yeah!” Dean stepped out onto the ice and found that it still held well. He motioned for Castiel to follow him and he stepped tentatively out onto the ice. He nearly lost his footing before Dean grabbed him and held him steady. “You got it?”

“Yes. I got it.” Castiel took a couple more steps towards the middle of the lake, making sure every step was solid before moving. He picked up his camera from where it was hanging round his neck and took a couple of snaps of Dean with the willow tree far in the background and the closer trees framing Dean. He stepped back a couple of paces but he slipped letting out a yelp.

“I don’t got this.” He grumbled from the floor. Castiel was a fair distance from the edge and Dean had to walk out to help him up.

“You okay?” Dean asked, patting off the snow from Castiel’s coat. “Maybe this was a bad idea. Come on, let’s go, we can finish the walk around the lake on actual ground.”

Dean began the cautious trek back to the ground and despite Dean’s general warning that this was probably a bad idea Castiel stayed in the middle of the icy lake, he pulled up his camera again to capture the darkness of Dean’s maroon jacket, trousers and hair against the stark white background.

“Come on!” Dean called from the lake’s edge once he was on solid ground again.

“Coming.” Cas replied and skimmed through the pictures he’d just taken. Satisfied he followed Dean’s footprints back to the edge.

**_Crack!_ **

Castiel stopped.

**_Crunch!_ **

Castiel felt his stomach drop, torn between risking a dash to the side or staying stock still and hoping the ice would hold.

“Dean…” He said, it wasn’t loud, too scared to make too much noise, to move a single inch. His voice seemed to carry across the lake and Dean looked around to Cas.

“Cas?”

“Please… Help,” Castiel pleaded. “The ice is cracking.”

“It’s okay, I’m coming!”

“No! Dean, you can’t, the ice won’t take both of our weights.” Castiel told him breathing hard. Dean ignored him and started his way back to him, taking extra careful steps. When he was a couple of feet away from Castiel he held out his hand for Castiel to grab onto so that he could pull him to the safer ice.

“Come on, grab my hand. I’ve got you.” Dean smiled at him, an attempt to reassure him. The dark haired teen took a deep breath and stepped forward to reach out for Dean’s hand.

**_Crack!_ **

The ice disintegrated below him and there was a shout as he slipped through.

In one blink Castiel was under the water, it soaked through his thick coat instantly. With shock of the cold water he breathed in only finding he was inhaling water. Eyes opening, he tried to reach the surface, kicking his legs as much as he can. He hit something hard above him. No, he’s under the ice, this can’t be happening. His brain was screaming out for him to take a breath but he forced himself under the panic to hold it that little bit longer.

Dean snapped into action as soon as he saw Castiel plummet into the icy water and not come back up, he lay on his stomach on the ice and plunged his arm into the freezing water to grab his friend.

“Cas!” He yelled, even though he knew he wouldn’t hear him. Dean could see the dark water swirling at the surface but there was no sign of Castiel at all.

**_Thud!_ **

Dean heard the distinct sound to his left and scrambled over, swiping away the layer of snow that was on the ice. There was a faint show of Castiel’s tan jacket, he was close to the hole. Dean thrust his hand back into the water, this time with better aim and tried to reach his best friend.

"Come on, please, Cas!" Dean kept calling to no one in particular. His arm was soaked up to his shoulder, the fabric of his leather jacket becoming heavy and sticky. He could feel himself beginning to shiver more and more as his body attempted to keep him warm, he gritted his teeth together to stop them from chattering so he could concentrate.

Castiel was still not within his grasp and he’d be under a long time. Longer than he knew Castiel could hold his breath for, something they’d done before for fun in a swimming pool. Dean reluctantly pulled his arm out, rubbing his hands together quickly to fight off the biting cold that was niggling at his bones. Trying his best to ignore the pain of the cold in his arm he putit back in the water reaching around while on his stomach to have the best possible radius to find him.

Dean's hand hit something.

Something that was both hard and yielding at the same time. He grabbed onto it and he found it was Castiel's arm. He pulled. And pulled until he could see the tan trench coat floating to the surface.

"Come on." He said to himself, a mantra to keep him going. He _had_ to save his best friend.

Castiel came to the surface after what felt like an age, but there was no sudden breath for air, no trying to scramble to get out, nothing like he'd seen in movies. Castiel was a dead weight in his frozen grip. God he hoped he wasn’t _dead_.

Dean tried to shuffle back to pull Castiel out of the water his feet and legs only slipping on the loose snow and the ice. He grabbed Castiel's shoulder with his other hand so that he could keep him out of the water. Castiel's face was pale, his lips showing a blueish tint rather than their normal plush pink. There was no rosiness to his cheeks just a pale almost white pallor. More ice broke away from the edge, causing Castiel to sink back into the water briefly before Dean got a proper hold of him. The ice seemed to be holding now.

"Come on, Cas. Stay with me buddy. Come on." Dean tried again with all the strength he could muster to pull Castiel out. It was useless. Castiel was freezing to death in the water and all Dean could do was hold on to him. His hands felt frozen and useless, white and stiff but they clung to Castiel _no matter what_.

Dean's phone vibrated in his pocket. _Call someone_. That’s what he needed to do. Carefully, he pulled Castiel as close as he could to him, most of his top half was out of the water. He let go with one hand to get his phone from his pocket and placed it on the ice well away from the hole and dialled nine-one-one. Putting it on speaker, it wasn't long before someone picked up.

"Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?"

"My friend, he's fallen through the ice... I can't get him out... he... he's so cold..." Deanrambled to the guy on the phone.

“Okay, where are you? What’s your location?” He asked.

“We’re at South Hollow Lake…”

“Okay, I’m sending an ambulance out to you now. Is he out of the water?”

“No…” Dean breathed trying to haul Castiel up again. “I can’t… I can’t get him out.” Dean’s voice was so close to breaking. He sniffed as his nose ran with the cold air and adjusted his grip on Castiel to keep him as safe as he could. “I tried. He’s mostly out, just too cold… he’s too cold.”

“Okay, that’s okay. We’re sending help for you, they’ll be there really soon. I need you to stay on the phone with me.”

“Yeah.” Dean said.

“What’s your friend’s name?”

“Cas… Castiel Novak.”

“Okay. What’s your name, buddy?” The man on the other side asked.

“Dean. Please, he’s so cold. He’s cold. I can’t get him out.” Dean panicked. He tried his best once again to drag him out of the water. His hands were numb, his arms were numb and it constantly felt like Castiel was slipping from his grip. Dean scraped his feet against the ice to make an indent and got up so he was sat on his knees.

“Come on, Cas.” He mumbled.

“Hello? Dean? Are you still there? You need to stay on the line with me.” He cut in to Dean’s mumblings.

Dean stopped his efforts of pulling up Cas for a moment. “I’m here… I need to try.”

“Is Castiel breathing Dean?”

“I… I don’t know. He was under the water for a while.” Dean took a few deep breaths, psyching himself up and pulled Castiel hard one last time and his wet-heavy legs broke free from the water and ice, limp and cold. “I got him out… I got him out!” Dean shouted.

Dean moved him away from the dangerous sides of the hole, noticing the cracking that was forming from their combined weight. He breathed hard from the undue effort and rubbed his hands against the left over dry sections of his jacket to get some warmth back into them. He let himself shiver freely, teeth chattering, hands shaking, and shoulders tense and aching.

“Dean, is he out of the water?” Dean heard through his phone.

“Yes. I got him out…” He breathed. Castiel’s camera was still looped round his neck. Dean removed it and sat it next to him. He made a mental note to replace it for Castiel when they got through this because they _were_ going to get through this.

“Can you tell me if he’s breathing? Put your cheek near his mouth and see if you can feel him breathing.” The dispatcher instructed.

Dean leant down over Castiel and clenched his teeth so he’d be able to hear and feel Castiel breathing. Silence.

Five, ten, _fifteen_ seconds.

“He’s… oh my god… he’s not breathing.” Dean said quickly. He took Castiel’s shoulders and began to shake them gently. “Cas?”

“Dean, listen to me. The cold often makes breathing and the heart rate shallow. You need to really feel for it, put your hand on his chest.”

“I need him.” Dean whispered. “Cas… please… come on… You can’t- you can’t, Cas please. I need you.” Dean mumbled and almost gathered up Castiel’s limp form before the words of the dispatcher found their way through the muddle of Dean’s panic and despair.

Dean moved close again, putting his cheek right near his mouth and a hand lightly on his chest.

_Rise… fall… nothing… rise… fall…_

“He’s breathing. I think he’s breathing, it stopped for a moment, but his chest is moving.”

“That’s good Dean, your friend is going to be okay. Now you need to warm him up. Have you got a spare jacket to put over him?”

“I have my jacket.” Dean took off his own jacket, shivering even more as the lightly falling snow landed on his neck. He draped the well-worn fabric over his chest and tucked it underneath him as best as he could.

“Dean? Keep him as flat as you can okay, the ambulance should be with you really soon.”

 “Cas… Come on.” He puffed, swiping the drenched hair from Castiel’s face. “Come on, buddy,” Dean gave encouraging words, despite Castiel’s unconsciousness.

He looked round when he heard a commotion behind him, he could see the green-clad paramedics at the top of the hill being closely followed by several firemen. Dean hailed them over, waving his arms frantically and yelling.

As the firemen drew nearer Dean remembered that he was still on the dangerous ice.

“Stop!” He shouted. “The ice, it’s not safe.”

“That’s okay, kid, we’re coming to get you, okay. Stay right where you are. Don’t move.”

“It’s not safe!” Dean reiterated. “Cas… buddy, stay with me. I _need_ you, Cas… come on.” In the midst of Dean’s attention being on the boy below him, one of the firemen had come across the ice, a piece of rope knotted round his middle just in case.

“Hey, kid.” The fireman said softly as Dean hunched himself over his best friend, a futile attempt to keep him warm. “What’s your name, huh?”

“Dean.” He replied, a mere whisper in the snowy wind.

“Okay, Dean. Can you stand up for me?”

“I’m not leaving him.” Dean protested.

“I’m not going to leave him, I promise. I need you to stand up so I can help him.”

Dean acquiesced and stood up next to the fireman, who was dressed in a soot covered brown jacket with high visibility strips on. The fireman knelt down carefully next to Castiel, shrugging off his jacket and laying it flat on the ice.

“Who’s your friend?” He asked, he gently lifted the unconscious boy onto his body warm jacket and wrapped him up to help warm him.

“Cas.” He told him simply, Dean picked up Castiel’s camera, inspecting it and holding on to it tightly, it was unlikely to have survived the event, but he could try. The fireman looped his arm underneath Castiel’s legs and another round his shoulders, lifting him, and the jacket, up and making a safe way back to the edge of the lake with Dean following close. At the edge of the lake, the paramedics were prepared with a backboard and a thick sleeping bag like cover to put over him and they got Castiel back up the hill and into the ambulance.

The ambulance ride had been quiet. Dean watched as the paramedics inserted an IV line into Castiel’s arm and gave him a warmed saline solution.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Dean asked, pulling the blanket that was wrapped around him tighter.

“Yeah, we just need to get him warm. This mask here,” She pointed to it strapped to Castiel’s face over his nose and mouth. “is giving him warm humidified oxygen to help him warm up.” She smiled at Dean reassuringly.

There was a load of commotion when the ambulance came to a stop and the back doors were thrown open, letting in a gust of cold air which started up Dean’s shivering again.

Castiel was removed from the ambulance quickly and into the hospital, while one of the paramedics helped Dean though he wanted more than anything to go after Castiel.

“Hey, he’s going to be fine, okay? Come with me, I’ll help find you some dry clothes.” Dean nodded numbly as he was led into the hospital.

Two hours. That’s how long it was until they let Dean even see Castiel and only then it was because he’d yelled and caused a scene. It had certainly felt much more than that, Dean’s stomach knotted with worry for one of the people he cared for most. Castiel’s doctor had told Dean that Castiel’s temperature was rising nicely and that he should be out of the woods now. Dean just nodded and walked through the door held open by the doctor.

He was still pale faced but he _looked_ warmer than he had before. There was still a large warming blanket covering him and the heated oxygen mask, but the worry seemed to dissipate a little just knowing he was still alive.

There was a hard plastic chair in the corner of the room so he dragged it over and planted himself in it. He sat awkwardly for a couple of minutes, not saying anything, hardly even looking at him. The nurse came in and took his temperature and checked over his vitals, writing them down on the chart.

“You should talk to him, he can probably hear you. Hopefully it won’t be too long before he wakes up.” She smiled and patted his shoulder. “Are his parents on their way?”

“Yeah, I think so, the doctor called them earlier anyway.”

“And what about you?”

“I’m fine.” He said flatly.

“Right, of course you are. Talk to your friend, it’ll help, both him and you.” And with that she left.

Dean picked up the camera from the bedside table and pressed the power button. Nothing happened which was to be expected, it wasn’t waterproof after all. So he flicked the memory card flap open and pulled out the small chip, he hoped that at least this was salvageable.

“Hey… Cas…” Dean started, he felt a little strange talking to someone who currently couldn’t talk back. “The doctor said you’d wake up soon. I hope so. I… it was horrible, Cas. You just fell through the ice and I couldn’t catch you. I’m sorry. I got you out eventually though Cas, you were so cold.

“The firemen helped out though, got us off the ice… one of them was pretty good looking if you ask me. Maybe I should invest in one of those firemen calendars.” Dean laughed to himself, wringing his hands together. He reached under the warming blanket without really thinking and took hold of Castiel’s cool hand. “Come on, Cas,” Dean whispered. “Please wake up.”

Dean sat in the chair for the next hour, the nurse came back in another couple of times to keep an eye on his temperature which was now about ninety-five point five degrees Fahrenheit.

“Is that good?” Dean asked when the nurse explained what she’d been doing.

“It’s getting there, a healthy temperature is ninety-eight point six degrees Fahrenheit.”

“That’s only three degrees off.” Dean said happily, hope filling his gut.

“It is, but that’s a lot for a body to cope with.” She smiled. “The warming blankets are doing their job, we’re aiming for about another degree or more in the next hour. I think his parents just arrived too.”

“Okay. I’ll let them have their time with him.”

“You really care for him don’t you?” She wondered, seeing Dean’s hand clasped to Castiel’s. Dean nodded minutely. “He’s lucky to have you.”

“Thanks. I’ll, I’ll go now, let his parents see him.” Dean got up, reluctantly letting go of Castiel’s hand.

But he held on.

Dean gasped, glancing at the nurse who frowned in confusion.

“He’s holding on, is he waking up?” Dean returned to Castiel’s side. “Cas?”

“D’n,” he mumbled. “D’n?”

“Yeah, Cas I’m here. I’m here buddy.”

“Wa’s hap’nin?”

“He’s confused, it’s just the hypothermia, once he’s all warmed up, he’ll feel a lot better, I’ll go and grab the doctor, okay, Dean.”

“Cas… It’s me. You’re in the hospital. You… you nearly drowned. And you’ve got hypothermia.”

“Cold…” Castiel responded.

“I know. That’s why you’ve got this big blanket on you. The doctors are warming you up again.”

“D’n.” He slurred again.

“Yeah, Cas. I’m here. I’m not leaving you, ya hear.” Dean told him. He shuffled the chair closer and held on to his hand. His other hand rested on Castiel’s thigh making small calming strokes with his thumb.

The doctor came in not a minute later and busied himself taking Castiel’s vitals, his temperature again and checked his responsiveness to light and talking to him. Castiel’s parents were behind him, watching in silence as they looked at their child. Dean removed his hands from Castiel.

“Hi, Mr and Mrs Novak.” Dean greeted from the chair. Dean didn’t really get on all that well with Castiel’s parents. It wasn’t that he didn’t like them at all, just that they never seemed to have been there when Castiel needed them most. When he wanted to take New Media as an extra lesson instead of the Business Management, his parents hadn’t spoken to Castiel for a month. It was Dean who was left to pick up the pieces of his best friend as he struggled to decide what to do, letting him stay at Dean’s house. Of course, John had tried to reason with Dean about Castiel needing to sort out his issues with his parents, but after a while he relented and let the boys do what they needed.

“Dean.” Bartholomew said shortly.

“What happened?” Naomi asked, coming closer to the bed.

“He was taking photos and I decided to go out on the ice and Cas,”

“Castiel.” Castiel’s father corrected. Dean huffed and narrowed his eyes.

“-Castiel followed me out and the ice gave way as we went to leave. I tried to catch him.”

“This was _your_ fault. I can’t believe it. I’ve told him time and time again that you’re a bad influence and a danger to him. Now look what’s happened.”

“I _tried_ to catch him. _I_ got him out of the water. _I_ called the ambulance. _I_ was there.” He retorted, gritting his teeth, his hand twitched, trying to get back to Castiel’s.

Castiel huffed behind the oxygen mask.

“Stop fighting.” He said, words a lot less slurred.

“Oh! Castiel, sweetheart.” Naomi cried and rushed to her son’s side. Dean stood up.

“Yes.” Bartholomew said, coldly. “You _should_ leave.”

“Stay.” Castiel told him and Dean’s eyes returned to Castiel’s, they looked brighter now, before they’d been more grey than blue. “I want you to stay.” Castiel coughed, fogging up the mask. “I need you too, Dean.” Dean’s heart leaped when he remembered his mumblings from earlier. “Please stay.”

“I’ll stay, Cas. I’m here, okay.” Dean sat himself back down, taking hold of Castiel’s hand again, despite his parents being in the room. He let his thumb run over Castiel’s knuckles soothingly and Dean was sure he could see Castiel smile.

Castiel stayed in the hospital for the next two weeks, the doctors wanting to make sure that his temperature returned to normal, which it did the same day he was admitted, and then stayed and didn’t drop afterwards. Dean visited every day for as long as he could, Castiel’s parents showed their faces every now and again, just to make sure that he was still okay.

Dean got a call back from his father in the evening that he arrived at the hospital, making sure he was okay, saying that he and Sam were on their way to the hospital. Dean had told them that he was fine and that he would be back in the morning. Dean’s father had backed down eventually, after stressing that he should really come and see Dean and speak to the doctors about him to make sure that he was okay and that their limited medical insurance was able to cover it. Dean told them that he’d handled himself, making John proud of his eldest son. John eventually put a worried Sam on the phone and they spoke for a while, Dean reassuring him several times that he was okay, and that it was just Castiel that they had to be worried about at the moment.

Castiel’s brothers had also visited, they’d been much nicer than their parents. Gabriel even went so far as to tease Castiel about Dean, making him blush.

“Oh my God! You really _do_ like him! I knew it!” He shouted when Dean was out of the room, making one of the nurses rush in to see what the commotion was.

“Gabriel!” Castiel grumbled.  When Dean had come back with a glass of water for Castiel and two coffees he was confused with the strange tension in the room.

“I’m fine, sorry.” Castiel apologised to the nurse, who then nodded her head and eyed the room’s occupants before leaving.

“Everything okay?” Dean asked, handing a coffee to Gabriel and then the glass of water to Castiel. Dean sat back in the chair again.

“Fine, Dean.” Castiel told him. Dean smiled, and glanced at Gabriel who was waggling his eyebrows. Dean frowned. “Gabriel, you don’t have to stay here, you know. I’m fine on my own. Or at least fine with just Dean.” Gabriel opened his mouth to speak. “I know mom and dad want you to be in the room with me but Dean’s my best friend. Nothing’s going to change that.”

“Right, _best friend_.” He jeered. Castiel rolled his eyes but a blush crept up to his cheeks. Gabriel, thankfully, left the room with a ‘see ya later’.

Now Gabriel was out of the room, Dean and Castiel could talk more privately.

“You okay?” Dean asked gently, sipping his hot coffee.

“I’m fine. Really, Dean. You need to stop asking me that.”

“Sorry. Just making sure.”

“I know you are.” Castiel smiled, he looked down at his hands, thinking for a moment before thrusting the one without the catheter feeding him hydrating fluids and antibiotics at Dean, inviting him to take it. Dean blinked in surprise for a moment before relaxing and taking hold of his hand back. “I… I meant what I said before.”

“What?” Dean said, confused, they’d said a lot of things in the past week.

“When I said that I needed you, Dean. You said it too. I remember that.”

“I know. I meant it too.”

“What does this mean then?” Castiel wondered.

“Whatever you want. I won’t force you to anything. I know you’ve been talking about that girl in your new media class a lot recently.”

“That girl isn’t you though, not at all, she’s just someone I get along with. She’s not been there every time my parents decided my future for me, or through graduation tests or anything like that. _You_ were.” Castiel smiled softly, squeezing Dean’s hand. He remembered how stressed he’d been about the tests and how Dean had offered him over to his place to study where it was quieter and they could test each other’s knowledge. “You’re my best friend, Dean. I know that.”

“Yeah… I’m glad I have you too, Cas.” Dean smiled and they sat in silence for a moment.

“They’re discharging me tomorrow,” Castiel started. “Taking this thing out today sometime,” He said waving his hand about aimlessly. “I’m pretty sure it’s safe if you wanted to come up here with me. You… you could show me that video on your phone. I’d be able to see it better if you were sat closer.” He said, making an excuse for himself and smiling.

“O-okay.” Dean stuttered, he let go of Castiel’s hand and climbed, somewhat unceremoniously, onto the bed. Once Dean had settled, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and found the video of cats dancing and played it for Castiel.

“What… even?” Castiel shook his head as the short video ended, a small smirk of a smile forming. “Dean, half of these aren’t even real.”

“Shhh, ‘course they are!” Dean retorted, pouting.

“Here, click on this one.” Castiel grinned, grabbing Dean’s phone and clicking on one of the suggested videos, this time ‘cats meeting puppies’. Castiel sat glued to the screen for the full ten and a half minutes, giggling and laughing loudly at one particularly amusing one. Dean had stopped watching halfway through, choosing instead to watch Castiel as the smile and laughter graced his features and made his stomach flip.

“These are adorable.” Castiel commented afterwards. Dean just hummed in agreement. Then Castiel was looking _at_ him. Dean drew in a sharp breath and looked away.

“What do you want to watch next?” Dean asked, trying to distract Castiel from what had just happened, but Castiel just dropped the phone on Dean’s lap and put a finger under Dean’s chin and lifted it up so Dean was looking at him again.

Castiel blinked slowly as he took in Dean’s tired face. Tired because he’d visited him every day of their holidaybreak, he’d even brought his holiday project work with him some days.

“Dean Winchester.”

“Mmm?” Dean responded. Hardly a response, but it told Castiel that he was listening.

“You know-”

“Good afternoon, Castiel.” The nurse chirped as she sauntered into the room.

“Hi.” He said back. Dean shuffled awkwardly next to Castiel. Wanting to move but not wanting to make it obvious that he was there.

“Oh, I see you have your friend here.” She smiled at Dean, who returned one more awkwardly. “I just need to remove Castiel’s IV and then I’ll be gone. Alrighty, Castiel, you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“I’ll be as gentle as I can.” Castiel’s other hand moved to grip Dean’s as the nurse took the other hand and began to peel off the tape that was holding the catheter in place. Castiel’s eyes were fixed on Dean’s but Dean was watching the nurse’s hands. She peeled the tape away and Dean could see Castiel wincing in his peripheral vision so he squeezed Castiel’s hand tighter. Dean’s face paled as she was about to remove the needle.

“Don’t look, Dean.” Castiel told him. Dean swallowed and fixed his eyes to Castiel’s swimmingly blue ones and smiled, taking some deep breaths through his nose. Castiel winced and gasped as it came out and the nurse was holding a cotton wool ball over the small hole to stem any bleeding.

“All done. I’ll be out of your hair now.” She said and packed up what she had. “Oh, before I go Castiel, I need your parents to sign the discharge forms for you to be able to leave tomorrow. They can do it tomorrow morning when they pick you up.”

“Oh, okay.” Castiel sighed.

The nurse left the room and closed the door.

“As I was saying.” Castiel continued and Dean barked a laugh, his tanned pallor returning. “You know that you’ve been my best friend for forever and you’ve always been there for me.”

“Yeah…” Castiel curled his finger under Dean’s chin again so he could look into Dean’s eyes.

“Dean… Can… Can I kiss you?” Castiel smiled, expression softening from the nervous tension releasing.

Dean breathed out hard but smiled, stomach twisting. “Thought you’d never ask.” Dean had barely finished speaking before Castiel’s soft lips were on his. Dean tensed at first, not entirely sure how to go about kissing his best friend but soon relaxed when Castiel’s hands came up to Dean’s face, cradling it gently. Dean melted under the touch, eyes closing and just sensing everything that was Castiel.

Dean was there, waiting outside the hospital doors dressed in several layers of clothing including a new leather jacket, while Castiel’s parents signed all the necessary forms and sorted out any excess on the medical insurance.

He came out soon after, a piece of paper in his hand detailing anything that would help him recover even more.

“Mr. and Mrs. Novak.” Dean greeted politely. “I… I can take Castiel home.”

“No, that will be fine, Dean, we can sort it.” Naomi stated and began ushering her son towards their car.

“Mom,” Castiel spoke up. “Dean’s taking me back to his house, I’m staying there for a couple of days. Thank you for signing the paperwork. I’ll be home at some point soon. I need to restart my photography project again, which _you_ disagree with anyway.”

“Castiel.” Bartholomew warned, but Castiel just glared at him.

“I’m going back with Dean.” He gritted out.

“Fine.” Naomi yielded, shaking her head at her son nonetheless. “Do what you want.” They left, getting in their car and driving away back to Pontiac.

“Thank you, Dean, for letting me stay over.”

“Don’t mention it, anything for a friend… a, uh, boyfriend.” Dean smiled. “Here I got you this.” Dean pulled a black and yellow bobble hat from his pocket and plonked it in Castiel’s hands. Castiel grinned widely and threw his arms around Dean.

“I love it!” When Castiel pulled back, Dean took it and pulled it over Castiel’s messy hair. Dean smiled and swiped away the stray hairs poking beneath it and tucked them under the bee coloured fabric before leaning in and kissing him.

“Come on, let’s get in the car, it’s kinda chilly out here. We don’t want you to be cold, Cas.” Dean looped his arm around his shoulders and guided him to the Impala. As they reached the sleek black car the first few flakes of snow began to fall again. This time they could really appreciate the snow and Castiel looked over at Dean through the soft snowflakes before getting in the car.

“Oh, and here,” Dean produced a small memory card from his pocket as they sat close on the front bench seat of the Impala. “It survived, all your photos are still on there.”

“Wow, Dean. Thank you.” That earned him a quick kiss which Dean smiled into.

Dean started the engine, revving it a little before sliding out of the car park and onto the main street back to Dean’s home.

**Author's Note:**

> I hoped you enjoyed this! There are two more to come out in this mini bang series :)
> 
> Also, let me know if I should add any more tags! :)


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